The present invention relates to the field of lighting and more particularly to a light fitting.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,823 proposes a light fitting for protecting and supporting neon-type light tubes, which comprises a base section, a central section and a transparent cover section with covers at the ends, to be used both indoors and outdoors.
The subject of Patent EP-A-0,142,432 is a closed luminaire containing fluorescent tubes, which is composed in particular of a body, a diffuser and two endpieces, as well as means for providing a seal between the body, the diffuser and the endpieces. The endpieces carry the sockets for the tubes and, optionally, an ignition device.
The filing company has already developed an electrical supply rail, described in European Patent Application EP-0,375,623, which relates to a light fitting and has a succession of pairs of electrical contacts comprising at least two superposed conducting strips having, at predetermined distances, contact pads arranged at 90xc2x0 in order to supply series of bulbs placed between two adjacent contacts. The conducting strips are each covered with a continuous insulating body over their entire surface, so as to form a stack in which the conducting strips are completely insulated from each other and from the outside, excluding the contact pads.
In its European Patent Application EP-516,578, the filing company has proposed that the conducting strips be slid into a section having a central recess for the conducting strips and an opening allowing the contact pads to pass freely.
In European Patent Application EP-0,652,398, the filing company has proposed an aluminum reflector of parabolic cross section, lying in a continuous manner inside the section along its length direction and the electrical contact pads pass through said reflector, so that the focus of the parabolic reflector lies close to the center of the bulbs, so as to form a linear reflector distributing a narrow light beam over the entire length of said fitting, and to allow the insertion of a diffusing grid placed in said light beam and capable of directing it and reflecting it in a preferred direction.
The present invention relates to an improvement intended more particularly to lighting when, for practical reasons, the fitting has to be situated such that the beam is directed upward without there being any possibility for the fitting to be protected and is consequently exposed to the weather. To alleviate this drawback, fittings like the one proposed in this Invention must be provided.
According to the invention, the light fitting comprises a base section having two lateral flanges and an electrical supply rail placed inside the base section, a transparent plastic section applied against the lateral flanges of the base section and two covers which are capable of engaging with the base section and the transparent section and are placed at the ends of the light fitting. It is one in which the transparent section made of plastic is cut to a length slightly greater than that of the base section and has lateral edges which completely cover, by surrounding them, the upper ends of the flanges of the base section, the transparent section resting at the two ends of the fitting on the upper edge of a closure endpiece fastened to the base section, the two end covers being pressed against the endpiece and enclosing the transparent section and the upper edges of the base section.
It is advantageously provided with two lateral sections which are placed in the length direction, each covering a lateral edge of the transparent plastic section over its entire length. The lateral sections each have a rounded slideway which is slipped into rounded slots in the base section so as to remain fixed over the entire length of the fitting, the free end of each section being designed to press the transparent plastic against the edge of the base section and to hold it in place laterally.
In a preferred embodiment, the transparent plastic section, made of a polycarbonate or if necessary an acrylic material, is an extruded plastic. Likewise, the two aluminum sections are also extruded. This embodiment makes it possible to devise fittings of variable length which may range up to 300 cm.
In this embodiment, the aluminum covers of the fitting leave a free space at the ends of the fitting so that the transparent plastic and the aluminum sections, which are slightly longer than the base section, can vary in length because of the expansion and contraction of the materials with the variations in temperature.
The fitting may advantageously have holes in its lower part so as to be able to drain off the water produced by condensation from its interior.
In a preferred embodiment, at least one of the upper edges of the base section terminates in an inclined shape in order to make it easier to fit the transparent plastic section. The closure endpieces are positioned relative to the base section using pins, the covers covering the endpieces and being fastened by means of screws screwed into the boreholes in the base section. The base section has a lug and a groove allowing the fitting to be fastened to a fastening member by a simple clip-in system.
The fitting is advantageously designed to contain, inside it, a parabolic reflector which concentrates the light beam in one direction. It may contain, inside it, at least one diffusing grid in order to prevent the light from being reflected in undesirable directions.